It was the day a
friend of mine gave me an article out of a magazine describing how
Amanda Hocking had become a bestseller novelist by publishing her
books on Kindle. I had been trying to get an agent interested in my
manuscript, any agent, even a bad or dishonest or lazy agent, for the
better part of one year. When I learned I could bypass all the
gatekeepers, I jumped. Suddenly, knowing this other way existed, I
didn’t feel like waiting years for an agent to discover my
qualities, such as they are, and then wait again for the agent to
convince some publisher to take a chance on me. The system seems
pretty random, to tell the truth. Especially when you read some of
the books that get published by the traditionals. I am still a
believer in the traditional publishing system, and I do love printed
books. But I am sure we could agree that traditional publishers do
not have a lock on quality any more than that Indie writers all
deserve to have their books published.

What
genre do you write in and what genre do you prefer to read?

I read all genres,
from romance to YA and historical fiction. My books are mysteries
with elements of humour and romance thrown in. I’m comfortable
straddling several genres at once, even if this makes it more
difficult for the reading public to find me. Maybe that’s why I
read in all genres. I am a fan of Carl Hiassen, whose books are very
funny while also absurd and often with an undercurrent of violence,
and also Monika Lewyzcka, who wrote Two Caravans and A Short History
of Tractors in Ukrainian. What genre do those books fall in? At a
certain point, I think you have to do what comes naturally and what
you do best, even if it doesn’t suit Amazon’s
check-boxes. They definitely need more check-boxes.

Where
do you sell most books, USA or UK, Amazon or Barnes and Noble?

My books are set in
Chicago, so it’s no surprise to me that most of my sales go to
US readers. And most are being bought on the Amazon website, either
electronically or in paperback. I’m always very pleased when UK
readers get interested in my books. Of course, they have to put up
with my US idiom, but I haven’t had any complaints. Since I’ve
lived in Switzerland for more than 20 years, I also get quite a few
sales from Switzerland and Germany.

During
your childhood who was your biggest influence?

You’re going
to laugh, but the first thing that occurred to me when I saw this
question was: Elton John. I love all his records, especially Goodbye
Yellow Brick Road. It was a double album set, with probably 30 songs.
Remember those old songs? Songs like Benny and the Jets, Funeral for
a Friend, Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, Candle in the
Wind. My parents worried about me because I idolized a gay pop
singer. But I didn’t care about his sexual orientation. I just
thought the words and music were so brilliant. I loved the colour
illustrations on the album cover, and I would stare at them in a
dreamy mood, and listen to that music for hours at a time. Now, I
don’t think I became a writer because of Elton John, but at
that time in my early teenage life, his music put me in a kind of
nirvana, and I think that’s one of the things we’re
always aiming for as writers, to help our readers find an escape, to
help them imagine another world, a higher plane. And I knew already
back then, as a 13 year old, that I wanted to help people reach that
state of nirvana or escape as a writer.

Are
you fortunate enough to write full-time?

Yes, a little over a
year ago I quit my day job. With three kids in the house and their
education to pay for, this was no insignificant decision. You could
safely conclude that I have a very high tolerance for risk. I also
feel very stubborn about pursuing my dream of writing. I wrote my
first book, Doing Max Vinyl, while still working full time. When I
actually managed to finish that book, and realized that my dream of
being a writer had actually come true, I was so excited that I
decided I wasn’t going to attempt to write another book while
working full-time. I know some people can do it. I still don’t
know how I managed to do it with Doing Max Vinyl. I just know I
wouldn’t be able to do it again. Writing a book puts such an
incredible strain on the author’s brain, it consumes so much
raw energy and requires so much thinking, just to get it halfway the
way you want it to be, I just couldn’t imagine going on like
that. Luckily, I have a very understanding and tolerant wife.

If
Hollywood came knocking who would you want to play your main
character?

Do you think they
would really ask me? Well, just in case they did, I could definitely
see Reese Witherspoon playing Annie Ogden. Not just because she’s
blond, of course. Reese has played such a range of roles ranging from
June Carter in Walk the Line to those romantic comedies, the Legally
Blonde movies. If Reese were fully booked, I would also be happy with
Amy Adams, who starred with Meryl Streep in that quirky movie, Julie
and Julia, about a woman cooking her way through Julia Child’s
cookbook. I’m sure Amy Adams would have the stuff to play Annie
Ogden.

Name
6 people, dead or alive, you’d love to have as guests seated
around your dinner-table.

I could imagine
trying to coax a few stories out of Samuel Beckett over a glass of
Rioja, and if Albert Camus and Marcel Proust were there it would be
even more interesting. I would probably have to brush up my French
before the dinner. I would not invite James Joyce, because he’s
such a downer, don’t you think? But I’d definitely have
Albert Einstein along, as well as Stephen Hawking. They’d get
along, wouldn’t they? The party would get awfully stuffy with
all these men, so I would also like to have Reese Witherspoon there,
just to liven things up for Einstein (and me). And if I could invite
a couple more women, why not add Virginia Woolf and Grace Kelly? I
see Grace hitting it off with Reese, and it might be entertaining to
watch the sparks fly between Virginia Woolf and Camus.

What
one piece of advice have you found the most important in your
writing career?

Attach butt securely
to chair. Oft-quoted, but no less true for that. I cry for all the
great books that never got written because writers got distracted by
alcohol, or the good life, or whatever. Writing is hard work, and
there is no substitute for the endless revising that we do.

What
are your plans for the coming year?

I’m working on
the third and last book in the Annie Ogden series of mysteries,
following on Doing Max Vinyl and Zombie Candy. Some time in 2013
it’ll be done, I’m thinking more likely in the fall than
any earlier. It’s my life’s work right now.

And
finally, if you were stranded on a desert island what 3 books would
you choose to have with you?

Can’t I just
sneak my Kindle into the bag with me? Oops, how would I charge it up
on a desert island? Right, so maybe the Bible, since quite honestly
it’s still on my to-read list. Then I think I would include A
Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth, just because it’s so big and rich
and wonderful. And finally I would want to have the Oxford English
dictionary with me, because it tells the stories of all the words in
the English language, and where they were first coined. Sort of like
bringing 300’000 books in one. Take your time, rescuers, I’m
actually looking forward to being marooned!

Fabulous interview, Fred! It strikes me as really funny that my sister e-mailed me an article about Amanda Hocking, and that's how I also came to publish indie! Btw, if you haven't read Doing Max Vinyl, go get it now. It's incredible. Oh, and definitely Amy Adams - all the way!